White-cheeked Turaco (Tauraco leucotis)

The White-cheeked Turaco (Tauraco leucotis) is a species of bird in the family Musophagidae.  I saw a couple of them at Hara Langano Lodge in Ethiopia but I didn’t get very good photos of them.  There are better images in the links below.

They have a large range throughout Ethiopia and Eritrea but logisitically speaking, the Lake Langano area is the easiest place to see them.

LEARN MORE ABOUT WHITE-CHEEKED TURACOS

Wikipedia

Birdlife

Turacos.org

VIDEOS

There wasn’t much available on wild birds so I have to use some videos of captive birds to show them in action.  The first one shows some cute chicks!

 

 

Great Blue Turaco (Corythaeola cristata)

The Great Blue Turaco (Corythaeola cristata) is a turaco, a group of African near-passerines. It is the largest species of turaco.

They have a large range across Central Africa but the easiest place to see them is in Uganda.  I saw them both at Entebbe Botanical Gardens and Mpanga National Forest.

LEARN MORE ABOUT GREAT BLUE TURACOS

Wikipedia

Birdlife

Turacos.org

HBW

VIDEOS

Thankfully I was able to find a couple good clips (both filmed in Uganda) on Youtube, mostly because these birds were hungry and therefore sitting still-ish!

Ross’s Turaco (Musophaga rossae)

Ross’s Turaco or Lady Ross’s Turaco (Musophaga rossae) is a mainly bluish-purple African bird of the turaco family, Musophagidae.

They have large range throughout central Africa.  I saw this one in Entebbe Botanical Gardens in Uganda.

LEARN MORE ABOUT ROSS’S TURACO

Wikipedia

Birdlife

Turacos.org

VIDEOS

I couldn’t find any Youtube clips of wild birds so I will have to use some captive birds to show the call and behaviour of this beautiful bird.  The call is very distinctive and that was how our guide located the birds we saw in Entebbe.

 

Purple-crested Turaco (Tauraco porphyreolophus)

The Purple-crested Turaco (Tauraco porphyreolophus) is a species of bird in the Musophagidae family.   It is the National Bird of the Kingdom of Swaziland.  According to Wikipedia, sadly the crimson flight feathers of this and related turaco species are important in the ceremonial regalia of the Swazi royal family.  I really hate when birds are killed so their feathers can provide decoration.  Especially when the bird is as stunning as this one!

IMG_4350 IMG_4349 IMG_4254 IMG_4260 IMG_4128aThey have a very large range which is great news for African safari enthusiasts!  They can be found in It is found in Burundi, Kenya, Malawi, Mozambique, Rwanda, South Africa, Swaziland, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia, and Zimbabwe. Their southernmost occurrence is at the Mtamvuna River on the KwaZulu-Natal-Eastern Cape border.

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I found them easily in the Pretoriuskop Restcamp in Kruger National Park, South Africa.

LEARN MORE ABOUT PURPLE-CRESTED TURACOS

Wikipedia

Birdlife

Biodiversity Explorer

Swaziland National Trust Commission

VIDEO

Not live action but a great sound clip of this bird’s call.

I can’t tell if this is filmed in a bird park or in a restcamp but it’s excellent quality.

The Birds Of Pretoriuskop Restcamp

As promised, here are some of the amazing birds of Pretoriuskop Restcamp.  I was thrilled to see so many Brown-headed Parrots which were my main target bird, but there were lots of other great birds too!

This first batch of photos was taken near the laundry room in the late afternoon.

Helmeted Guinea-fowl

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African Green Pigeon

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Purple-crested Turaco – stunning bird, photos don’t do them justice!

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Black-collared Barbet

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These remaining photos were taken early in the morning.  We were up around 5:30 and we spent a good 3 hours just wandering around following the birds (especially the parrots) as they went about their daily activities.

Grey-headed Bush-shrike

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Finally!  A flock of Brown-headed Parrots!

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They really like the trees just outside cabin 124!

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African Mourning Dove

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Scarlet-chested Sunbird

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Meanwhile back at the cabin, Ina was watching the Crested Guinea-fowls who came right up to us and the monkeys who were trying to rob some campers of breakfast.

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The Brown-headed Parrots beckoned again and we were off chasing them as they flew from tree to tree.

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We also saw several Purple-headed Turacos!

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The Grey Go-away Bird told me to g’wayyyyyyyy……………so I did and kept following the parrots.

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Black-collared Barbet

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G’waaayyyyyyyyyy!

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Crested Barbet

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Dark-capped Bulbul

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Blue Waxbill

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Southern Black Flycatcher

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Red-headed Weaver

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Black-backed Puffback

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Yellow-fronted Canary

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As we were pulling out of the camp, I spotted this Purple Crested Turaco and anther Bulbul in the trees outside reception.

IMG_4343 IMG_4344 IMG_4349 IMG_4350 IMG_4351 IMG_4352Obviously this is not a complete list of all the birds you can find here, this is just what we saw on one particular early November morning.